Sins of the Fathers
by The Altered Destinies
Summary: "Soun Tendo and Genma Saotome are often blamed for causing most of the troubles that afflict their children, but what about the secrets surrounding their own mispent youth when they were training under Happosai? What if the Sins of the Fathers first in their generation, and all of the current troubles that Ranma and company experience are merely the echo of events that took place
1. Chapter 1

FirstGen

Soun and Genma:

The First Generation,

SINS OF THE FATHERS!

By Jim Robert Bader

(Based on the characters and situations created by Rumiko Takahashi,  
with further additional ideas/inspirations from D.B. Sommer &amp; Others)

Chapter One.

Ill Met in Nerima

"Atsuko!" a shrill voice called out, annoying the young demoness who was watching ITV while nominally doing her studies in Earthcraft.

"What is it, Mother?" she tried not to sound as bored and exasperated as she was, but her elder stormed into the room with a flash of her usual pyrotechnics and cut off any thought of using that line of protest upon her elder.

"Atsuko, you lazy, good-for-nothing excuse for an Oni...!"

"Can we cut to the chase this time, Mother?" Atsuko asked, closing her books and pretending not to be intimidated by the flashing fire in the eyes of her elder, "Instead of listing all my good qualities, how about just coming out and telling me what you want?"

"What I want," the Sorceress Cybelle, daughter of a Major Duke of the Sixteenth Hell replied, "Is that you showed even a trace of having inherited something from my side of the family besides my looks! I swear by all that's Unholy, you're almost as bad as that miserable Ogre you have the misfortune of calling your father!"

"What did Dad do this time?" Atsuko asked with as much patience as someone of her generation had when being lectured on the subject of inheritance.

"Never mind!" her mother snapped, then in a lower, more calculating tone she added, "I'll deal with him in my own good way. What I want is for you to sit up and pay attention, if that's not too much to ask, your royal pain-in-the-  
buttox?"

The sarcasm was lost to Atsuko, who merely sat upright with a prim and pretty expression, folding her batwings as she adopted her most Kawaii expression and said, "I'm listening, mother. Really."

"Oh yeah?" Cybelle glared suspiciously, "Then why don't you take those headphones out of your pointy ears and give me your FULL attention. I'm sending you out into the mortal world on a mission of utmost importance!"

"Really?" Atsuko yanked the headphones out of her ears and turned off her Walkman as she gave her mother her honest and full attention.

"That's right, you lazy girl," her mother smiled in a calculated manner, "It seems my scrying has turned up some interesting information that could give us a leg up over our rivals. The lines of destiny have been shifting again, and my magic has determined with absolute certainty that a new Nexus is about to appear in the mortal realm..."

"A Nexus?" Atsuko said excitedly, then paused, "Uh...what's a Nexus?"

Cybelle covered her eyes with a clawed hand, "Don't they teach you younger bucks anything in school these days? I swear they ought to draw and quarter the Principal on general principle, but they probably couldn't get another Oni stupid enough to take the job...oh well. A Nexus, sweet child, is a mortal born at the center of converging realities, who-by his very nature-causes catalytic change in the probabilities lines...are you with me so far?"

"No."

Her mother counted to ten backwards in Babylonian and tried once again, "The Nexus for this generation has not yet been born, but I have determined who will be the mortal father! The boy will grow to be a man and form a new continuity from which other parallel lines will form divergence. We must have that boy under our influence, and for that we require a host in which to plant that seed, a girl who has not known the touch of a man before, who will bear the child that is of two natures, both Yin and Yang, who will carry within him the seed of destiny that will help reshape the future!"

"Oh, I get it," Atsuko brightened, "Then we have to find some girl who can be the mother. Cool. Only...where do we look?"

"I'm looking at her," her mother smiled, "I always knew you'd be useful for something besides an excuse to entrap your father into marriage."

Atsuko lost her smile, "Me? Do it with a HUMAN? Ewwwww! Humans are so...so limited and yucky!"

"Nonetheless," Cybelle conjured with a hand and called up an image of a young man wearing a kind of scarf or turban around his head, "You will obey me and seek out this human to mate with him and produce an offspring. He is young and inexperienced with women, so he will be easy to manipulate, and you should have no problem twisting him around your little finger."

"That's the Father?" Atsuko said with distaste, "Couldn't he at least have been just a little handsome? OW!"

"Don't get snobby," her mother snapped as she slapped Atsuko on the head, missing her horns completely, "In case you didn't know the fact you're no great prize either, even if you are what humans favor in terms of appearance. I'm not doing this as a favor to this boy either, but young Saotome is the father to future destiny, so we need him, and you're going to have his baby. Either you agree to this or...I'll cut off your allowance and ground you!"

"So what?" Atsuko folded her arms over her ample chest and sniffed, "It's not like you ever let me go anywhere, and what allowance? You're always saying it's going to pay for stuff I broke and damages and such like. As if it's all my fault I'm almost as strong as my father..."

"And marginally more intelligent," Cybelle grumbled softly, then softened her tone to the consistency of cotton candy, "It will be your chance to get back into my good graces, restore your line of credit to the Fashion Malls, and allow you to buy nice things for yourself. I'll cancel your debts, make amends with the various people you've injured in the past, and even allow you out of the House on occasions, all if you agree to do this one simple thing for me. That isn't too much to demand, is it, sweetums?"

Atsuko eyed her mother warily, "You'll let me go...just like that? I get to do whatever I like just as long as I agree to have a baby by this mortal?"

Her mother steeled herself for what she knew to be inevitable disaster and said, "If you have a son by this man then all your debts are canceled. I might even be inclined to forget that little fire you set in our last castle, forcing us to take up residence in a tree of all sanctuaries! I am tired of living like a Dryad, it's long since time we made our own way in the world and earned a place of respect among the other Demons!"

Atsuko thought about it, then glanced at the image of the man again, then very softly whispered, "Okay...I'll do it. But under one condition."

"What's that?" Cybelle steeled herself for some unpleasant or foolish demand that she would have to decline as the first salvo in negotiations.

To her considerable surprise what she heard her daughter say was, "I get to do whatever I like, I'm free to come and go, and you won't interfere in any way," Atsuko replied, "I'll go after this guy and get him in the sack in no time flat just so long as you don't try to push me or fix things up or try to make this guy fall in love with me or anything like that. I do this on my own, you got that, Mother?"

The Demoness Cybelle merely sighed and said, "You sound like your cousin, Morgan. Very well, I agree to abide by your wishes. You will pursue and win this boy on your own terms, then your life will be your own from that point onward."

As she said this she kept clawed fingers crossed behind her back, but fortunately her daughter was just dull enough in the wits not to notice as she sat upright with a huge grin and declared, "All right! Then let me at him! I'll have this guy eating out of the palm of my hands or my name isn't Atsuko Hibiki!"

"Ah!" Cybelle stated to say in warning, only to wince as her daughter walked into a closet and was subsequently buried in an avalanche. She sighed, reflecting that Atsuko had acquired many of the worst traits of her father, such as an abysmal sense of directions. It was a side effect of a stealth quality inherent in Ogres that made them difficult to detect by other demons, but there were occasions when this trait could be really annoying, such as when Atsuko got lost looking for the bathroom.

"Uh...mother?" Atsuko said sheepishly as she poked her head up from the pile of boxes and stuff that had been stashed in there, "About not interfering...could you maybe make one tiny little exception?"

Cybelle was already preparing the spell in her mind as she said, "I'll send you on your way. You'll have means to support yourself, but other than that you are on your own my child. Good luck." Silently she added, "You and that Mortal are going to need it..."

Genma Saotome was not a happy young man at the current prospects he was attempting to elude. It had been like this for years since beginning his training under The Master, but there were serious times when he began to get annoyed about always having to leave town running flat out with an angry mob chasing him and Soun with all manner of blunt objects.

"Right this way, Boys!" the little Pervert who was their Master called out, bounding with the seemingly endless energy that a man of his years had no right to claim. Soun and Genma needed no prodding, only a glance over their shoulders was enough to convince them to redouble their efforts.

As they passed a low rise, however, they were spied by two figure perched far overhead, both wearing Chinese style outfits that were quite unlike the dull grey Mao suits normally worn by their countrymen. One girl had long brown hair done up with distinctive Odangos, the other had a matching hairstyle, only her hair was a bright shade of blue-purple that somehow seemed natural for her and not the product of artificial tinting.

"Can you make them out?" the girl with brown hair said in fluent Mandarin, "Are they the ones we are after?

"Difficult to say," the purple haired girl replied, "They fit the descriptions we've been following, but without getting any closer we can't be absolutely certain."

"The little one certainly matches the description of the demon," the brown haired girl remarked, "The other two must be his students, and if that mob is any indication, they follow the pattern we have observed in other villages and towns that they have been to."

"True," the purple haired girl replied, "But do you want to tell Grandmother Cologne that we thought we had the right party after so many false leads and wrong turns that we've already taken?"

"A fair point," the brown haired girl conceded, "Your grandmother, the Matriarch, can be a royal pain about time wasted. Let's get closer to those three and see if they match the descriptions from a closer proximity."

"And if they do," the purple haired girl remarked as she clenched a fist for emphasis, "Then our mission is as good as over and we can be rid of this accursed country and the barbarians who dwell here. The sooner we obtain the artifact the sooner we can return home to Joketsuzoku..."

"Why us, Tendo?" Genma was asking pointlessly as they managed to duck into thicket that the mob would not as easily penetrate.

"The Fates only know, Saotome," Soun replied, shifting the weight of his share of the burden they both carried, "It must be our Karma to suffer..."

"Get a move on it, you two!" Happosai urged as he rode above the sack that Genma carried, "You don't want those people to gain on us, do you? Take my precious belongings and find someplace secure where we can sit down for the evening!"

"Hai, Sensei!" the two men said in immediate chorus as they pushed further into the woods, coming up along parallel to a river and tracing it further into the mountains, all the while unaware of the two sleek figures who were dogging their tracks.

Whether their master knew of this or not was difficult to determine, but some instinct warned Happosai of the nearness of two attractive females, and he smiled to himself, the prospects for an enjoyable evening brightening his mood more than a little.

The same could not be said for his two students. Lazy, good for nothing wretches the both of them, hardly worthy of taking on as his disciples save that there was nobody else whom Happosai could rely upon. It shamed him to think that Genma and Soun were the best that he could do, but he rationalized that a true master made use of the materials on hand, so by the time they made camp he was ready to hop down and enjoy a good smoke while they prepared his supper.

"Ah, get a load of that fresh mountain air!" Happosai beamed, taking a deep breath and exhaling, then sniffing the breeze again as if picking up a faint aroma. He smiled a crafty smile, but aloud all that he said was, "Be careful unloading the merchandise, boys, and don't burn my supper. I'm going to go for a little walk to relieve myself, but by the time I get back..."

"We know, Master," said Soun.

"Everything will be to your satisfaction, Master," Genma assured, "You can count on us."

"Yeah, right," Happosai snorted, then hopped away to find concealment in some nearby bushes. According to his senses the fun would begin very shortly...

"Finally," one of two figures said as they crept up to a point overlooking the campsite, "They've made camp. Now we can sneak up on them and finish this so we can go home..."

"Not so fast," urged her companion, "The small one has wandered off, and he's the one we came to find. These other two are just his servants, or something like that..."

"What has that got to do with anything?" the first asked in disgust, "If we confront the two males they may be able to tell us if the Elder has what we're after. I say we overpower them and force them to tell us."

"Not much finesse," the second shrugged, "But it's hard to disagree with that logic. I wonder why that makes me nervous..."

"Well, I'm going in there with or without you," the first growled softly, "Now are you coming?"

"And let you get into trouble all by yourself, Kho Hom?" the second replied, rolling her eyes as she added, "Why break from a pattern? I'm with you..."

"Did it seem to you as if the Master was looking unusually distracted, Saotome?" Soun asked while using a cup to measure the rice from the bag they had "appropriated" in town and putting it in the metal containers they used for cooking.

"It's hard to say with him, Tendo-kun," Genma replied, "Our Master has the attention span of a hummingbird..."

"And the bottomless pit of a Dragon," Soun said sourly, wondering why he, a man with prospects, should be suffering a life of privation while training to be a great martial artist. He finished scooping the right number of cups of water to Rice from the bucket they had used to draw from the river and closed the metal containers, then sighed, "Eating rice every day to keep up our strength...what I wouldn't give for a nice bowl of Ramen."

"We do have cabbage this time," Genma held up a head that he had "liberated" from a Vegetable merchant, "And I even managed to find us a jar of Mayo, which is luxury after a fashion."

"Luxury," Soun sighed, "Our Great Grandfather will be the death of us yet. This is poor fare for two young men such as ourselves to live by. It seems like years since we ate meat and vegetables stir-fried with our cabbage. What I would give to wish this fate on someone else..."

"Like my brother," Genma said softly, "It should have been him running around training with the Master, not me, but then he had to go and marry your sister..."

"Let's not review unpleasant family history, shall we?" Soun said in soft warning, "I just hope the Master isn't somewhere close by to overhear us...you know what sharp ears he's always had."

"I know," Genma shuddered, picking up the bucket, "I'll go refill this by the stream. You tend to the fire and I'll be back with more tinder."

"Take your time," Soun smiled, "It will be at least a half an hour before the rice begins to cook to the right consistency...that is unless the Master picked out the slow cooking kind..."

"You never know with him," Genma agreed, starting off towards the nearby river when all at once his senses perked up, his combat instincts coming to the fore as he said, "Did you just hear something, Tendo-kun...?"

At all at once a figure came hurtling towards him, making a flying leap for his head, but Genma moved with the speed of someone who was used to dodging attacks, flowing out of the way of the blur that was his assailant. He pivoted and assumed a fighting crouch...

And almost failed to overcome his surprise at the discovery that his attacker was a woman!

Soun had simultaneously detected a second assailant coming towards him and got up from the fire with a speed that made it seem as if he almost flew from a crouched position. Tumbling in mid-air he landed a short distance away as his own attacker turned to orient upon him, flashing a bo staff and assuming an attack posture.

As with the first assailant, Soun was surprised to discover his attacker was a brown-haired woman wearing Chinese clothing!"

"Nihao!" she smiled, then came at him in a blur, her staff moving like a living thing in her hands as Soun gave ground and backed away, attempting to maintain his safe distance.

Genma was also dodging the furious attacks of a Chinese sword in the hand of his Purple Haired assailant. Though more stocky in build then his taller companion, he nonetheless moved with surprising speed to side-step each thrust and assault she aimed towards him. It took him several moments to put enough distance between himself and his opponent, then he bounded up into the trees and grabbed a branch to swing, then vaulted like a gymnast to the next tree, rebounding off the bark like a hurtling monkey.

The woman who had assaulted him took a moment to gauge his speed and allow herself a minor reaction, then she took off after him, vaulting into the trees and almost perfectly duplicating his efforts, slinging her sword back in a hidden sheath for easy transport.

"What's going on?" Soun asked his assailant, "Why are you attacking us? Are you from that village...?"

"Not hardly," the girl replied in accented Japanese, "You travel with the evil Demon, Happosai, which means you are either his slave or his helper..."

"Neither really," Soun replied as he kept dodging the staff, "He's our Master, we're his students..."

"Students of perversion?" the brown haired warrior woman challenged.

"No!" Soun protested, keeping his distance from the powerful thrusts of her Bo staff, "Our Master may make us steal but that doesn't mean we enjoy it like he does!"

"Enjoy it or not," the warrior woman replied, "You're still accomplices to his crimes..."

"Howzaboutitbaby!" a voice suddenly cried from directly in front of the girl's chest, and she froze in mid-motion to find a wizened old figure plastered to her chest, smiling up at her while fondling her best assets.

"Master!" Soun protested at once, "Please...it is not dignified to do that to a perfect stranger!'

Happosai was about to correct his pupil for talking like that to his master when the girl he was feeling up finally broke out of her daze to react with uncharacteristic volatility as she exploded in a furious battle cry of "You PERVERT!" and launched the little old man skyward with an uppercut that just barely managed to dislodge him.

Meanwhile Genma had returned to the ground, having run out of trees to use for platforms. The purple haired girl alighted on the ground near to him and once more drew her sword, taking a position to cut off flight in either direction as she oriented the point towards his heart.

"You no bad at running!" she said in heavily accented Japanese, "But you no run without legs!"

"C-Can't we talk this over?" Genma asked when he saw the girl lunge towards him, and without hardly thinking about it he ducked so low and so fast that he almost seemed to disappear from sight, then as the Purple Haired girl continued forward she found her footing impeded by an obstacle and she went right on tumbling forward, going well past Genma and all the way into the stream behind him.

"Now," the brown haired girl said as she raised her bo staff to just below the chin of the nervous Soun when the splashing noise caught her attention, "Kho Hom?"

Quick as a shot Soun caught the staff and twisted it out of her hand, then tossed it to one side before raising his hands in a deflecting manner, "Please! We don't have to be enemies, not if you're here on account of the Master."

The brown haired girl looked from her empty hands to the man before her, then she straightened out and said, "All right...then start talking..."

"Are you all right?" Genma called down to the sputtering woman as she surfaced from the water, "Do you need a hand getting out of there...?"

"Keep away!" the woman snarled as she fought her way back to dry ground, refusing the hand that Genma offered, "No touch me! I is no frail woman who need help from male!"

"Certainly not," replied Genma, "But is there any reason we need to be enemies? It might help if you told me what you and your friend are here for first."

The Purple Haired girl turned as if in sudden memory, "Silk? Where are you?"

"Over here!" her companion called out in Japanese as she and Soun approached them together, "I think we need to call a truce, Kho Hom...these men don't seem to want to fight us."

"Hmph," the purple haired girl sniffed, giving Genma a sour look.

Silk looked her up and down then asked, "What happened to you?"

"I got wet," Kho Hom said with disgust.

"Obviously," Silk replied, "But how did it happen?"

Kho Hom flicked her eyes towards Genma and said, "He ducked."

"Ah!" Silk smiled, "In other words, you just got yourself a husband."

Kho Hom's eyes got very wide as she reacted with a startled, "Him? No way! He's not my husband! He didn't defeat me!"

"Seems to me like you're the one who took the bath," Silk said with an airy smile, "How do you think your grandmother, the Matriarch, will react when she hears this?"

"..." Kho Hom started to say, then muttered a few choice words that even in Chinese sounded profane, followed by a sharp retort, "Not one word of this to Grandmother! The last thing I need is to have something like this dumped on me..."

"Excuse me," Soun spoke up, "I hate to interrupt you two, but the Master may be coming back soon, and if he finds you here..."

"He what, male?" Kho Hom snorted.

"You don't want to know," Genma replied somberly, "Our Master is like no one else who is alive, and once he sets his sights on a pretty girl he won't stop until he's had his full measure."

"He no would dare!" Kho Hom protested.

"Count on it," Soun replied, "The master would take one look at you and decide you were worth a little sport. There's nothing Genma or I could do to prevent it..."

"Genma, eh?" Silk smiled as she regarded the stockier young man, who had a build like a football player but who wore a cap over his head as if it had been glued to the spot, "Dark Horse...an interesting name for your new husband, don't you think?"

Kho Hom grit her teeth and growled, "He's NOT my husband!"

Silk ignored her protest and said, "Perhaps we got off on the wrong foot. My name is Silk, and the walking bad attitude there is my companion, Kho Hom. We're Amazons from Joketsuzoku, China..."

"Amazons?" Genma smiled, "Oh come now, you don't expect us to believe that you two are from..." he suddenly stopped talking as a blade was thrust just under his chin, "On the other hand, what do I know about it?"

"You no make fun of Nyanichiczu!" Kho Hom snarled as she pressed her dagger without breaking skin to emphasize her point.

"Look...Comb is it?" Soun said carefully, "My friend didn't mean you any disrespect. It's just that we've never heard of any Amazons from China..."

"We're not in the habit of advertising our existence," Silk replied, "In fact we wouldn't even be here except that we were sent by the Matriarch of our village to find something that was stolen from us a very long time ago, something that we have reason to believe is in the possession of your Master, the ancient Demon."

"Something stolen by the master?" Genma asked as he gingerly pressed two fingers on the dagger to persuade the woman glaring at him with crimson eyes that it would not be needed, "Could you be a little more specific?"

"You know where is?" Kho Hom asked with a very sour expression, still holding tight to her dagger.

"Not really," Soun replied, "Our master hides many of the items that he steals in special places, such as at my father's house in Nerima. I'm not really sure where in the house he hides his stash...he doesn't trust us very far, I'm afraid."

"No," Genma agreed, "But he has a knack for leaving us behind to face the consequences for his crimes."

"He does indeed," Soun agreed sadly, "The Master's crimes are without number, and far too many of them fall upon us, Saotome."

The two Amazons exchanged glances, then Silk turned to the two men and said, "Perhaps we should talk some more. Your Master indeed has much to answer for, and perhaps we should begin by inquiring from him the details we need to complete our quest."

"Are you sure that's wise?" Soun asked, "You and your companion are exceptional fighters, but the Master...has very peculiar ideas about proper conduct around women."

"We're big enough girls," Silk smiled, "I'm sure your Master will agree to be civil if we ask him nicely..."

"Are you feeling okay, Silk?" Kho Hom asked her companion, "According to Grandmother this Demon is dangerous and not to be trusted."

"Don't tell me you're afraid of a little demon like that?" Silk replied slyly, "Besides, don't you want to get to know your new husband better?"

"HE IS NOT MY...!" Kho Hom started to shout when she saw her friend's smug expression and just turned away in disgust, "Whatever..."

"Well now," mused Atsuko as she glanced around at the point of her arrival, "So this is the outside world of the humans...not much to look at. All this green...what do they call this stuff? Grass, bushes or something like that..."

She glanced down at the watch dial her mother had given her, in reality a magical device that was supposed to help her find her directions. Like that would ever mean much to her! She could find her way just fine...if only things would stay in one place, that is. They tended to move around a lot when she was not looking...

"Okay," she said aloud, staring at the needle on the watch dial, "According to this the guy I want is...over that way. So that's the way I've got to head to find him. No problem..."

Of course the direction that she took turned out to be the exact opposite from the direction the needle had pointed, but who could rely on stuff like that anyway? Atsuko followed her instincts like a good little half-Oni, and it was something of a minor miracle that she would stumble by accident on the correct path leading to Genma after a search of only three and a half hours...

"Won't be too long now," Genma smiled as he fanned the fire over which the canisters were cooking, "We'll have the rice nice and ready in a jiffy."

"I'll put on another batch once we clean out the first canister," Soun smiled, "We weren't counting on any company, so there may not be enough the first time, but I'm sure you ladies won't mind the wait, just so long as we leave enough for the Master."

Silk and Comb looked on somewhat dubiously as the two males prepared to share their supper, their brief altercation seemingly forgotten. At first the Amazons suspected the men of ulterior motives, but only a few minutes spent in their company was enough to convince even the skeptical Comb that the men were too simple minded to plot anything devious, underhanded or sneaky.

"You live like this?" Silk asked by way of restarting their conversation.

"It's not luxury, but we manage to get by," Genma shrugged, "Years of roughing it have taught us to appreciate our meager share since we're fortunate that the Master permits us to have anything for ourselves."

"Why you put up with him when you no like Demon Master?" Comb asked in confusion.

"Because he's our Master," Soun replied, "He's training us to be martial artists, to carry on the Anything Goes Ryu."

"And because he'd beat us both to within an inch of our lives if we don't do his bidding," Genma glanced down at the fire wistfully, "Believe me, we've thought about leaving him several times, but he somehow always finds a way to bring us back to continue the training."

"So in effect you two are his slaves," Silk reasoned.

"Worse than that," Soun replied, "We're his descendants. The master insists that we owe it to him to train in the family discipline, but all we seem to do is run for our lives from one unpleasant mess to the next one, avoiding mobs like the ones who were chasing us not too long ago."

"His descendants?" Comb blinked, "You two are kin?"

"Can't tell to look, can you?" Genma smiled, "Soun's father and my father were first cousins, and their fathers before them were brothers, and each had the same mother who-incredible as it may sound-we are led to believe actually married the Master...or they were close, or something of that nature."

"You carry the blood of the Demon in your veins?" Silk remarked with surprise.

"Not proudly," Soun sighed, "You can't imagine the shame we bear, the horror we live with constantly, knowing that there once was a woman who would debase herself by lying with the Master, or that we are the result of that horror several generations removed."

"The Master has deemed that we are worthy to receive the training that he supposedly has spent three hundred years accumulating," Genma said gravely, "But the truth is I wasn't even supposed to be the one to inherit the tradition. That honor was supposed to go to my older brother, who unfortunately abandoned his duties and instead eloped with a woman he loved, leaving me to face the wrath of our Master."

"I thought we agreed never to mention that again," Soun gave his friend a sour side-glance.

"Oops," Genma said sheepishly, "Sorry."

"So what can you tell us about the ancient Master?" Silk wondered, "The little guy didn't seem so terrible to me..."

"What?" Comb regarded her friend with askance, "You faced the demon by yourself?"

"It wasn't such a big deal," Silk replied, "He tried to grab me but I gave him a toss that sent him airborne."

"I see," Comb frowned, "And is that where you lost your grip on your staff?"

"Oh no," Silk smiled complacently, "The tall, skinny one took it from me."

"HE WHAT?" Comb reacted, "You mean he beat you?"

"Sadly no," Silk replied with a sigh, "We called a truce before it could come to that, but I was very impressed with him all the same. It's been a long while since anyone disarmed me in a fight, and he's such a powerful fighter...and very handsome," she said the latter part with a pleasant smile that made Soun nervous.

"You mean you want him for your husband?" Comb turned a hard scrutiny at the tall youth in question.

"Well, why not?" Silk replied, giving her friend a friendly leer, "Don't tell me you haven't been thinking about it with your new husband?"

Comb bristled, "He is NOT my husband..."

"Uh, excuse me?" Genma said, holding out a bowl of rice with chopsticks, "Your share of the meal's ready if you want it..."

Comb glared at the stockier male and said, "You no be nice to Comb. We is Amazons, no need outsider males to wait on us..."

"Speak for yourself," Silk replied with a friendly nod to Soun as she accepted her bowl.

"Suit yourself," Genma shrugged, taking the bowl back as he picked up the chopsticks and began to eat by himself, shoveling rice into his mouth as fast as he could chew it.

Comb blinked, then glared to one side as her companion began to chuckle over a half-mouthful of rice. He folded her arms and said, "Hmph!" before turning her nose up to the whole proceedings.

"Saotome," Soun chided, "That's rude. You have another bowl you can spare for our guest. I'm so sorry, Miss Comb, my friend can be a little thoughtless on occasion.

"I no care," Comb snorted, then winced as her stomach growled, contradicting her pretensions.

Genma had finished off his first bowl, then picked up the second bowl and was about to dig in when he caught Soun's warning glare. After a moment of pause he sighed and passed the bowl along to Comb, saying in a casual tone of voice, "You don't have to accept it if you don't want it, Miss, but I think you could use some food after that scuffle we went through."

Comb glanced down at the blanket she was holding around her body, then up at her wet clothing, which was hanging out to dry. Although not very body-conscious and rather contemptuous of any male who might risk looking upon her naked, she had been oddly miffed when the two men had turned away and refused to look upon her nakedness, as if implying that she might have a terminal skin rash or something! She looked back down again, then accepted the bowl without comment, glaring at the male as he turned away from her again, ready to pound on him if he bothered to steal a glance at any amount of skin that she might inadvertently be showing.

She was not sure what bothered her more, the fact that he did not look or that she would even bother to notice...

"Ah!" Atsuko smiled as she sniffed the air, "That smells awfully good...or at least a lot better than Mom's cooking. Now I wonder what..."

She halted in place and sniffed the breeze again. Without quite knowing it she was within two hundred yards of the camp and was only now discerning the distinctive scents of four different human bodies, two of them unmistakably female. That got her attention at once so that she glanced down at the watch dial and-sure enough-it was pointing in the same direction.

Although lacking in a sense of directions, Atsuko's powers of smell were well beyond the range of normal humans and approaching Bloodhound territory for acuteness. Her hearing was also incredibly sharp, so she could just make out the sounds of voices murmuring in the distance. She started moving closer to investigate, allowing her senses to correct for her bad direction sense, and before too long she was within a good twenty meters of her goal when she suddenly ducked for cover, surprised at discovering four people where there was only one on her agenda.

This situation not only complicated things, but the presence of two females near to her objective was not in any way welcome news, given the nature of her mission. Atsuko's nostrils flared as she picked up the scent of at least one of the females registering a strong arousal. In her mind this suggested that someone else was out to claim the man that she had come to find, and such intrusions in her territory set her Ogre blood to racing. Unconsciously she pressed her hands against the bark of a tree and squeezed a little, heedless of the fact that that the wood made a noise in protest as her hands sank into the bark, leaving claw marks in their passage.

Comb suddenly stiffened as she heard this noise and said, "What is that?"

"Eh?" Silk replied, having been less on her guard and thus not as quick to notice the sound as her companion. She trusted Comb's perceptions, however, so she turned to look in the direction of her fellow Amazon's gaze, then frowned a little as if she sensed something amiss. She was about to get up when Genma spoke up.

"It's probably nothing," he said, "Some woodland creature wandering too close to our camp."

"Indeed," Soun remarked, though his expression was not as casual as he said, "The Master is late getting back from wherever it was you sent him. He should be turning up at any moment, which is what should we concern be concerned with."

"Comb know what she hear," Comb said with a sour expression, "That no wood beast, I go investigate what it is..."

She started to throw off her blanket when the two men suddenly reacted with a panic, Genma jumping to his feet as he said, "That won't be necessary! You just wait here, I'll go see what sort of creature we have to deal with."

Comb actually blinked, "But..."

"It's no problem, really," Genma insisted, then he made a hasty bee-line in the direction where Atsuko was hiding.

Atsuko belatedly realized that one of the males in the party was coming her way, and she realized that she had been inadvertently discovered, so she turned to flee rather than be trapped out in the open. Of course she failed to pay attention which way she was headed, so rather than retrace her steps she ran in a tangential line that terminated abruptly when she discovered her path impeded by running water.

Or rather she discovered the stream by the mere inconvenience of falling right into it without looking.

"What was that?" Genma frowned, pausing as he noticed only a blur, followed by the sound of a body splashing into water, then shrugged and took it as a good excuse for returning to the camp, "Like I said, nothing to worry about, it was just a bear or some other large animal, probably attracted by the smell of our cooking."

"You're cooking isn't that good," Comb grumbled without looking directly at Genma, who sat back down where he was and resumed his eating as if nothing were the matter.

Atsuko sputtered as her head broke the water, feeling very much the urge to curse as she growled, "Who put this river in my way? Now I'm soaked to my skins and my hair is a mess!"

She privately was grateful for her hybrid nature. Some Oni could not stand the presence of running water, having something to do with elemental magnetic currents or some such nonsense that they had gone on about in Oni school, Elementary Metaphysics 104. (Of course she mostly slept through that class, but she had absorbed the gist from glancing through the textbooks...)

She was about to climb out onto the bank of the stream when she heard a voice calling out, "I'll be right back, just as soon as I fill the canteen, Tendo-kun. I'll just be a minute..."

Atsuko started as she saw a man come into view...the very same man that she had seen through her mother's conjurings. With a gasp she ducked her head back down into the water as the man approached the water, not having noticed her since the light was slowly fading.

Atsuko could hold her breath for a long time if necessary so she took the opportunity to stare up from beneath the surface at the blurred image of the man her mother wanted her to father a child with, seeing a stocky, balding young man who covered his head with a hat to conceal his defect. The place where he crouched to fill a metal container with water was such that she could make him out from an incredibly close distance while not being visible to him, which gave her an opportunity to study her quarry and examine his Akashik aura. There was something...very odd about him that made her feel very strange about that, so she lingered near at hand, feeling the odd urge to reach out and caress his hand, yet hesitating to do so for some inexplicable reason.

The man got up again and left the stream, but she lingered a full half minute longer before she poked her head out of the water and stared at the space where he had vanished. Her nostrils flared, picking up and identifying his scent as one of the four she had detected earlier, only now she would be able to tell them apart. A very slow smile crept upon her face as she considered following after him, then remembered that he had company and decided that she could wait for the next time that he wandered off by himself. Quite suddenly the hunt had gotten interesting and she wanted to play with her prey before attempting to seduce him...

Unbeknownst to either Genma or Atsuko, Silk had not been satisfied to take the balding male at his word and had gotten up to conduct her own investigation. It had not taken her long to find the spot where Atsuko had observed them, nor was the lighting so bad that she could fail to miss some unusual looking footprints. Silk knelt down to study them, marking them as human in nature but for the unusual claw marks. Though she was no where as good a Hunter as Comb her tracking skills her adequate to the task of visually tracing the path the footprints left by their maker both coming and going, and from the length of the stride she was able to estimate height, weight and dimensions. She started to straighten out again, intending to follow the trail further, when she chanced to rest her hand against the mark of the tree and felt...something other than rough bark with her fingers.

Silk turned to see the handprints that sank deep into the tree and her eyes widened a little. The impressions were human but for the unusual claw markings but the depth to which the bark had been crushed implied great strength had been exerted, far beyond anything within the realm of human potential. An enhanced human manifesting a battle aura might be able to do it, but she somehow doubted that the one who had done this was such a creature.

"What is it?" she heard a voice say from behind her, "What's wrong? Is there something the matter?"

"Ah..." Silk turned to find the tall male confronting her with concern in his eyes, and for some reason she answered, "Oh...nothing, nothing that should worry you. I suppose it was a wild animal after all, just like your friend with the glasses suggested."

"That's good," Soun replied, "But you shouldn't wander off like this. It's very dangerous, and if it is a bear then you could be attacked or possibly even injured."

"I can handle myself," Silk replied, feeling the stiffening in her pride at the inference that she was less than fully able.

To her surprise the man just smiled and said, "I've no doubt about that, but there's no sense standing around here. It's getting late and the Master will be here soon. Please come back to camp and tell me some more about this place where you come from. What part of China is your home?"

"Oh, ah...it's not really all that interesting a place," Silk lied, then wondered why she had done so. It was surprising for her to encounter a man who seemed to be genuinely interested in her welfare. He was handsome and a good fighter, and there was something about him that appealed to her greatly. Perhaps he was worth a closer study, regardless of the details of his relationship with a certain pervert...

Continued.

Comments/Criticisms/Candid Camera of Nerima: shadowmane

The seeds of the future have been planted in the past, now what fruit will it bear for Soun and Genma? Be here for the next installment...

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	2. Chapter 2

FirstGen2

Sins of the Fathers

By

Jim Robert Bader

(Inspired by the Works of Rumiko Takahashi and D.B. Sommers)

Chapter Two.

"Oh, isn't this interesting? My sister, Achika, is having a baby."

"Achika," said the girl sitting across from her companion as they rode the bullet train together, "She's the one attending high school in Tokyo , right?"

"Yes," said Masaki Nodoka as she studied the formal looking announcement letter, "She met a nice boy in her senior year, name of Nobayuki. Father actually approves of him. He's studying to be an architect, you know."

"Fascinating," Tendo Kimiko rolled her eyes, "And this would be your older sister….or your younger?"

"Why, Kimi-chan?" Nodoka asked, "Do I look to you to be an older woman? How old do you take me to be?"

"I don't know," Kimiko said dryly, "You never give me a straight answer when I ask you."

Nodoka smiled and primly folded up the commencement letter then slipped it back into its envelope for later, "You're just showing your nerves. Relax, there's nothing to worry about. It's just an Omiai."

"Oh, I suppose you've been to Omiai's before?" Kimiko asked skeptically.

"As a matter of fact I have," Nodoka said, "Though not one where I was the bride to be of course. But you don't see me being a raw bundle of nerves as I go to meet my future husband."

"And why aren't you worried?" Kimiko asked, "I thought your father disapproved of this…what was his name again? Shao-Mein? Okinomiyaki?"

"Saotome," Nodoka said pleasantly, "Saotome Genma. Father says he is a very strong fighter with a good pedigree, and he chose him as a matter of honor because our family is indebted to his for a favor rendered by his Master."

"Sounds like a pretty poor excuse to hitch you up," Kimiko said, "And I don't know what my Dad's thinking setting me up for this with a guy whose name sounds like a product. Mizuno Somebody…"

"Mizuno Soun," Nodoka corrected, "But he's already agreed to take your family name for his own if you accept him. So when he becomes your husband he'll be Tendo Soun, which does sound much better."

"You're making it sound like I've already taken the guy to my bed," Kimiko winced.

"Well, you never know," Nodoka smiled, "And while I prefer to wait until my husband and I are properly wed, it certainly would be very manly and virile of him if he chose not to wait. And you could try him out to see if he's a good fiit."

Kimiko rolled her eyes, "I'll think I'll pass. You get off on those perverted things, but I was raised to be a proper lady.

Nodoka just smiled indulgently to that, but knew her friend too well to be fooled by Kimiko's blasé attitude, which contrasted with her own more cheerful acceptance.

They had met six months ago at a Kendo tournament and had become very good friends ever since. Both were enthusiasts at Kenjuitsu, and both practiced different schools of which they were acknowledged masters. There were as different as Oil and Water in terms of their personality, which made their friendship all the more unusual as they were like total contrasts in terms of temperament and bearing.

Nodoka was cheerful, optimistic and gracious in tone and attitude. She was graceful and ladylike in ways that seemed almost antiquated in these modern times, as though she had stepped out of a Samurai film or a period piece documentary of the pre-Meiji era. She never got upset or displayed any negative emotions that Kimiko could remember, and she always seemed poised and courteous, even when chaos reigned all around her.

Kimiko, by contrast, was tomboyish and not very feminine, a champion athlete and an avid practitioner of the martial arts taught by her family. She had a reputation for getting into trouble a lot, and often she was found seated in the discipline room of her high school for the fights she settled, bragging that she never started one but always saw them through to their completion.

Kimiko had spent some time abroad in a place called Hawaii and grew up with very untraditional attitudes for a Japanese woman. She liked to push the envelope and test herself against the odds, and she had natural leadership qualities that would probably do her well in a less traditional setting. If there was a challenge to be faced she was usually the one who volunteered to be the first on the spot. There was some talk of her possibly joining the Self-Defense forces when she graduated out of High School, in which case many fervently preyed that Japan would never go to war out of pity for an enemy who tried to go up against her.

But right now that future was on hold because of a stupid promise made by her father and one of his old college buddies. To satisfy his pride and honor she was going to a meeting where she would size up a potential candidate to be her husband, and once she finished off with the jerk she could get back to the rest of her life.

Or so that was what she was planning as they rode the train in to the Tokyo area, Nodoka having offered to accompany her since she, too, was expecting to meet a man whom her father had selected to be her husband.

"Don't presume that you'll be miserable, Kimi-chan," Nodoka urged, "You may find that you actually like this man that your father picked out for you."

"And maybe Pigs will fly," Kimiko sulked, but nonetheless glanced out the window of the train as the landscape went hurtling buy, thinking to herself just how she was going to get out of this arrangement before it turned her life into a total fiasco.

Whoever this guy was he had better not be some wimpy weakling, or else Kimiko would really be insulted. Her father thought she was too much like a man as it was that he had to go and pick these effeminate guys who embarrassed her with their weak attempts at pretending to be Macho overcompensation for deep-felt inadequacies that concealed how mushy they were inside, no doubt about it. She could not stand it when a guy would not stand up for himself or express his emotions honestly.

Where were the real men in this world anyway? Surely not in any of the recent Kendo matches that she had taken awards from. Those men whom she defeated always made the excuse that losing to a woman was just a matter of their not wanting to "go all out" in fear that they might hurt her.

She had crippled guys for giving her less of an insult.

"Mizuno Soun, you are such a dead man," she murmured under her breath, unaware of how, many miles away from where the train would be stopping, the man so referenced was busy with his own strange kind of relationship business…

"Oh my," Silk said, "The Gods bless you. Are you coming down with something?"

"I don't know," Soun said as he wiped his nose with a kerchief, "I don't get sick very often. Part of our training makes us tough and resistant to most normal diseases. But there is always the more aggressive kind…"

He paused as he felt a hand press up against his forehead, and he looked past a slender silk-draped arm to the woman to whom it was attached with some confusion.

"You're not running a fever, so I doubt it could be something like that," she said, withdrawing the hand and saying, "So maybe someone was talking about you."

"I can't imagine who that might be," Soun said, "Unless, perhaps, it was my father."

"Your father?" Silk asked, "What is he like?"

"Oh...he is a great man," Soun said with a touch of pride in his voice, "A True Martial Artist and a Master of Healing. He runs a clinic in Tokyo where my younger sister is studying to be a Doctor."

"A Doctor?" Silk replied, "How very interesting. But…you say she is your younger sister?"

"By about three years," Soun replied, "But she is very smart, and she tests high on academic scores, so much so that they've moved her into a special program for advanced learning."

"A Prodigy then," Silk mused, "How very interesting. Guess there's one of those in every family."

"I'm proud of her accomplishments," Soun replied, "But my father has always been my ideal of what it means to be a man. A true champion of justice who does what is right by his martial arts disciplines."

"So where is he now?" Silk asked.

"Ah…he was the one who recommended me for training with the Master," Soun said weakly, "He used to train under him, of course, back in his younger days…"

"Back when he was a student of perversion?" Silk smiled with gentle insinuation.

"I…never inquire into what he used to do during his tutorage with the Master," Soun replied, glancing away, "I'm sure he found the training just as arduous as Genma and I do. In fact, he seemed rather eager to apprentice me to the Master so that he could move on to obtaining his medical training."

"So he foisted you onto your grandfather in order to get out from under servitude to the old pervert," Silk smiled, "How very manly."

"Don't talk about him that way," Soun snapped, only to amend, "Although you are probably right, it is disrespectful to the man who gave me life, and I would prefer not to think of him in that sort of a light."

"Suit yourself," Silk remarked, glancing around, "Odd how Comb seems to be taking her time out there. If it was just a forest animal you think she would have killed it by now and be bringing it back for our dinner."

"How odd," Soun remarked, "Saotome seems to be taking his time as well. You don't suppose that…?"

"The two of them are snuggling up in the bushes somewhere?" Silk smiled, "We should all be so lucky. I've always thought Comb could use a man to keep her in line, and if she had sex on a regular basis she's probably be a lot less grumpy."

"I…wasn't suggesting anything of the kind," Soun said evasively, wondering just why it was so difficult for him to look at the woman beside him, as if doing so were making him feel…strangely uneasy. But not in a bad way.

"Yes, and we probably can't expect to get that lucky," Silk remarked, "So whatever is keeping them both probably isn't something fun and exciting to talk about. So maybe there is something out there that's giving them some trouble."

"Should we investigate?" Soun asked.

"And spoil Comb's fun?" Silk replied, "Don't forget, I've known her almost all of our lives and I can tell that she's enjoying herself far more than she would care to admit to. Especially as your friend seems to have piqued her interest."

"Really?" Soun said, "I thought they weren't getting along. She certainly acted very rude to him early on…"

"Oh, Comb is rude to everyone," Silk smiled, "Even me. She has this temper problem that her grandmother believes renders her incapable of making sound judgements. That's why she needs me around to help steer her away from the problems that she tends to get into by herself."

"So, you are the more sensible of the two of you?" Soun asked, finding it very disturbing how this strange foreign lady, who spoke almost flawless Japanese with only the slightest of accents, was regarding him from the short proximity that separated them.

"I like to think so," Silk replied, "Though Comb would no doubt give you her version of things as somewhat different."

"Well…whatever is keeping them, I hope they have the good sense to behave," Soun said, "Or if they attract the attention of the master…that could be very bad indeed."

"You serve the Perverted One," Silk said, "But you don't seem like such a bad sort overall. A curious thing that."

"Service?" Soun said, "It's more like forced indenturement. You have no idea of the horrors that Genma and I have had to endure…"

"Good grief," Silk reacted, "You're not going to start crying again?"

"Sorry," Soun replied, "It's just that…these past few years have not been easy to endure."

"So you go hungry a lot, you steal panties, and you raid women's lockers," Silk summarized, "All this to repay the Perverted One for the privilege of being his disciple. It does seem peculiar but I would hardly classify that as suffering by the standards I go by."

"You only say that because you don't know him as I do," Soun replied, "Perhaps to you it seems like a trifle, but if I could be rid of this accursed life…"

"How is that, Soun, my boy?"

"Gah!" Soun all but jumped to his feet with a start, "M-M-Master! I didn' thear you approach!"

"Master?" Silk asked, turning and coming face-to-face with the wizened old man who stood but two paces from her looking her up and down with obvious appreciation.

"Yowza!" he cried, "What a cutie!" and all at once launched himself right at her…

"I'm telling you there's nothing to worry about," said Genma as they traced their steps back towards the camp, "There's nothing out here...at least, nothing that we should be frightened about."

"Who you say frightened?" Comb scoffed, "No is weak man. Comb warrior of Amazon. See trouble, me kill!"

"I don't doubt you," Genma replied, eyeing the tall girl with the sword fetish as one might eye a dangerous lunatic holding a razor, "But this is Japan . We may have predators like wild Bears and Wolves and the occasional stray dog that can be a nuisance, but nothing out here could possibly be as frightening as the Master."

"Pervert demon you serve?" Comb frowned, wishing that she had better mastery of her Japanese, or could make it seem as effortless as Silk as she knew her limited vocabulary was making her seem like a complete idiot to this annoying Male beside her.

"Yes, the Master is Perverted," Genma replied, "And I would not doubt that he is part demon as I have seen him do things that I would scarcely dare describe to you, or any other woman whose gentle ears should be spared such unspeakable abominations."

"Who you say gentle?" Comb asked, wondering if the man was flattering or insulting her, "And why is Pervert Master you Master any way?"

"Because of something my brother did which can never be forgiven," Genma replied, "It's on his account that the position of Heir to the Anything Goes school passed from him to me, and now I'm expected to carry on my family's traditions by studying under one so perverted that I dare not introduce a lovely maiden like you to him else you suffer his wrath."

"What lovely maiden?" Comb's confusion grew by the moment, "What wrath you speak of? Comb no fear demon, or anything which crawl or slither on surface of Earth."

"You only say that because you've never met him," Genma warned, "But trust me on this, you're exactly the sort of curvaceous beauty whom the Master goes for, and don't say I didn't warn you if you fail to heed my warning."

Comb was growing more confused. She knew that the Japanese man with the balding head was calling her a beauty, but for what reason she could not fathom out. Since he had repeatedly stated that he did not want to fight with her then it could not have been a challenge match, and without a challenge there was no possibility of matrimony. Not that she gave an owl's hoot over some plain, dumb foreign man who worked under the heals of a Demon Master. But still…

"What you think he do to Comb?" she asked, more out of a sense of caution than genuine interest (or so she told herself with emphatic firmness).

"Well, if I know the Master as well as I do," Genma said, "The first place he'll probably start with is your chest, which makes for a pretty big target. Or maybe he'll do a strike from behind and cop a feel when you're not looking."

"Chest?" Comb blinked, "What is cop feel?"

"You'll find out, one way or another, and very soon," Genma said, "Just try not to think bad of me when it happens. After all, I did try and warn you."

"And you no try defend Comb when it happen?" Comb asked suspiciously.

"You're on your own where it concerns the Master," Genma replied, "Just don't say I didn't try to warn you."

Comb glared at this annoying man who presumed to know her business. But still she found herself walking beside him in the dark, keeping company with a man who had almost defeated her and come close by a whisker to becoming her husband. The very idea made her sick to her stomach…and yet still…

Still it did seem almost as if he were concerned for her welfare, in spite of his protests to the contrary. She did not know why but that affected her in some strange way, making her wonder if he were all as bad a person as she was inclined to suspect, given that he trained with a Legendary Demon Master whose many crimes against womanhood were too numerous to be mentioned.

Little did she know or even suspect but a second set of eyes were studying them from a distance. Sharply predatory eyes that belonged to a being who was not entirely human.

Eyes almost narrowed into slits as she took in the girl who was near her intended target. An obstacle in her path, and obstacles were for elimination if they got in her way.

Who was she? And why did she smell so much like lilac blossoms and hyacinth? And why was the male tolerating her presence without even attempting to screw her brains out? Were humans not supposed to have uncontrollable sexual urges that made them dangerous to young virgins? That was what it said in all the textbooks and lectures that she had read or attended back in Purgatory High School …

His scent was easy enough to pick up, what with all the male sweat that filled his glands, even though Atsuko knew that he had bathed recently (because she had been watching him while submerged under the water). Humans certainly were different than the boys she had dated (without much success) in her teenaged years. For one thing she was given to think that they were weak, cowardly and pathetic, not to mention stupid, pathetic and ugly.

But compared to some of the guys she had dated this guy was practically a Prince of Demonkind.

And her mother wanted her to have a kid by this man, which probably would take time to work out as she was not entirely certain how humans did it anyway. And because she never had been able to get beyond the hand-crushing phase of a relationship (mainly because she tended to get nervous at that point and forget to reign in her strength) she really had only the vaguest idea of how demons did it, either.

Perhaps if she borrowed more frequently from her mother's Anime Porn collection she might have figured it out. But her mom, Cybele, always kept her collection under special lock and key with Orachalcum fixtures so as to resist even her own Oni strength, and so Atsuko had to confine herself to the Romantic Comedy section of her mother's library.

Not that Atsuko knew how to program a VCR, but she could insert one of those new-fangled Video Tape thingies. And even someone as technically challenged as Atsuko could hit a play button without totaling the device.

So how exactly did humans do it anyway? She supposed she could hang around and watch as the man did it with this woman since she seemed like the type that humans would love to jump in the sack (a term she heard a lot but never really figured out).

But somehow that idea filled her with a different sort of raw emotion, and without even knowing the name of the girl who was poaching on her turf she knew immediately that she hated her guts and wanted to smash her face into the dirt.

"Who is she?" she murmured between clenched fangs, resisting the urge to move in closer to find out. Whoever the girl was she had ears like a cat and had come close to detecting Atsuko twice earlier, and only by hiding herself inside the bark of a tree had she managed this far to elude detection.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down. That was always her problem, her inability to control her temper, and her strength. Whenever she got excited or too tense her self-control went away and she acted like the Oni part of her heritage. She had to remain in control this time if she was going to get anywhere with this assignment. she had to get control over her emotions.

The problem was, of course, how to approach this man without him running away in terror. Humans were said to be a cowardly and superstitious lot…but that could not be entirely true of all humans. After all her father was half-human, which meant that she was a quarter human herself. So humans could not be all bad, could they? At least, not as bad as many demons.

But humans tended to judge on appearances, and appearance was where Atsuko had a little problem. After all, she was nearly six feet tall, had bat wings, a ruddy complexion and dark green hair, not to mention the fangs and claws and other distinguishing characteristics reflecting her demonic and Oni heritage.

She had to do something about that or else she would probably frighten the guy off long before it came to the hand-crushing parts. But fortunately for Atsuko, she had been gifted with talents other than her prodigious strength that could come in handy for just such occasions.

Namely her power of illusion, and her ability to metamorph through intensive concentration. It was an Oni art that required years of practice and intensive training to master, but she had proven good at her studies. All she needed to do was select a disguise and concentrate until she was able to make it her own.

Of course to do it right you had to practice often and frequently until the disguise became internalized, or else you might slip back and reveal yourself when the slightest distraction broke your powers of concentration. And Atsuko would have to admit that she did not have very good powers of concentration.

But what appearance would most attract a man like that? Certainly not that foreign looking girl with the weird accent. Maybe something more traditionally Japanese?

She would have to take some time practicing and trying out disguises before settling on an appearance that she could maintain even in her sleep. Something that enhanced her natural good looks but gave her a more human-friendly appearance. And then maybe she might find something for her body to wear…clothing was what humans called it, she remembered. And maybe those things you wore on your feet…what humans called shoes…that might be good for impressing a human guy that she was an acceptable woman to mate with.

Why exactly humans went to the bother of covering themselves over she was not entirely clear about. Something about keeping warm, which was probably because they had such frail bodies, easily affected by extremes of temperature and the weather.

Oh well, whatever the case, if it got her mother off her back for a while and got her to first base with a guy then she was willing to do almost anything, even kiss a human.

And when she had her disguise down and was free to corner her prey, then she would find out what going to Second Base might mean…and all the other sports metaphors that she heard people constantly use without bothering to explain the reference…

"Oh my," Nodoka said as she exited first from the train, "Isn't that Hitomi over there waiting to meet us?"

"Hitomi?" Kimiko said as she turned and saw a dark haired woman in a floral kimono standing off to the side of the ramp, and at once her mood brightened as she said, "Hitomi-chan!"

"Tendo-san," said Kuno Hitomi, heir to the Kuno family Pharmaceutical Empire, not to mention the junior captain of their Kendo club, as she composed herself in lady-like curtsey, "Welcome back to Tokyo . And you as well, Masaki-san."

"My, aren't you a proper lady, Kuno-san," Nodoka said, "Greeting us here in this manner, and on the eve of your best friend's Omiai. You truly are the descendant of a proper Samurai House."

"Why thank you," Hitomi said, "Would that I could say the same for you."

Kimiko winced and said, "Cut it out, Guys. Don't start that up now that we're finally here."

"Start what up?" Nodoka asked.

"Oh yes," Hitomi approached Kimiko and took her by the arm, "By all means let's not make things too unpleasant as you go to meet your new future husband."

"And cut that out too," Kimiko winced, "You know I never agreed to this. The only reason I'm here is because my Dad insisted on it. Won't let me join the Air Academy until I at least see the guy that I'm rejecting."

"Oh yes, and you're here as well to meet your boyfriend-slash-husband, are you not, Masaki-san?"

"My Omiai is later in the day," Nodoka said, "But there's plenty of time to accompany Kimi-chan to her Omiai."

"But I thought such things were private affairs exclusive to family members only?" Hitomi asked.

"But Kimi-chan and I are such good friends," Nodoka said, "Just as you are with her, Kuno-san. After all, you plan on attending her Omiai as well?"

"Ah…well…" Hitomi said, producing a fan and waving it at herself in a modest way that seemed more ladylike, "I have other reasons for attending. As heir to the Kuno school of Martial Arts Floral Arrangement Ryu I have offered my services to help set the décor."

"Why, that's very kind of you, Hitomi-chan," Kimiko said, "I'm very honored that you've come all this way to help me out. But then again, it's what I'd expect of my trusted Lieutenant in the Kendo Club."

"I am but honoring our friendship in the way that best suits worthy descendants of our noble ancestors, you and I, Kimiko-chan," Hitomi said with a mild blush, "Just as I am certain you would do for me were it my Omiai that is to be attended."

"Well then, how shall we go to the meeting place?" Nodoka asked, "I'm all for walking, but if you prefer to take a cab, or ride a bus…"

"Please, nothing so plebian as all of that," Hitomi replied, "As it so happens I came by family limousine, and it is waiting to pick us up and deliver us to the meeting place at the agreed upon time of the Omiai."

"My, that's certainly a very fancy way to travel," Nodoka said, "People these days have such formal modes of transportation."

"You mean people in this era, don't you?" Kimiko said with a glance at her mysterious friend, then to Hitomi said, "I hate to put you to so much trouble…"

"Oh, no trouble at all," Hitomi replied, "Got it, flaunt it, that sort of thing. Right this way, ladies," and with that she took the lead, guiding them to the parking area as they fell in step beside her.

But beneath the façade that was her friendly mask Hitomi was eyeing Nodoka with a gleam that she might reserve for a deadly snake, thinking, (I am keeping my eye on you this time, Harridan. You may have usurped my place as Kimi-chan's number one trusted companion, but I am wise to your little tricks now, and let's just see how you worm your way out of the little trap that I'll have set for you at the Omiai).

Not that Nodoka gave any hint of being at all aware of what the other young woman was planning, even as Kimiko was too absorbed with being temperamentally moody as she sought for a means of getting herself out of this whole engagement business. Perhaps Hitomi would have some ideas and be more sympathetic to her cause than was Nodoka on this matter. Nodoka was just so old fashioned and accepting of tradition. She did not have a rebellious impulse in her whole entire body, while Hitomi shared with Kimiko a free and casual spirit that would not be squelched or tamed by the overbearing desires of family obligation.

If she met this guy and he was rich and handsome, that was one thing. But if he were some poor, destitute bum with a bad attitude about women who practiced martial arts, then she would bury him in quick lime and be done with this business. And at least Hitomi would back her up and give her the cover that she was seeking. Especially with any man that her father deemed worthy of marriage, what with the man's incredibly poor taste in such things as worthy husbands…

Silk looked shocked at finding a wizened old man plastered up against her bosom, and then she reacted in true Amazon style by grabbing him firmly by the neck and planting him face-first in the dirt with her foot coming down on his neck with force enough to snap a large branch like a twig.

But at the last possible second the man twisted out of her grip and came upright once more, placing himself several paces distance with a look of appreciation, saying, "Well now. Soun, my boy, you'd definitely come up in the world. Never thought a guy like you would find a beauty like this in the middle of a wilderness like this."

"Master," Soun replied, "Please do not embarrass me in front of this kind lady. She has come all the way from China seeking to speak with you, and it would be disrespectful not to honor her with a meeting."

"I see your point," the little man hopped over onto a log and sat down. He pulled a pipe out of his collar and took a puff, then said, "So, you're with the Amazons I take it?"

"How did you guess?" Silk straightened up, wary of this man and sensing that it would be better to keep things civil, however much she wanted to strangle him for his earlier glomp.

"I know the signs, believe me," Happosai replied, "So how's Cologne doing? She the one who sent you, I take it?"

"She sent me and my companion to obtain something that she says is in your possession," Silk replied, "She says that there is a need for it, and as one of the sacred treasures of the Joketsuzoku she respectfully asks that you hand it back to her."

"Treasure?" Happosai looked confused, scratching behind one ear and gave a thoughtful puff on his pipe before saying, "Don't really know what that could be. A halter top? Or maybe some panties? What were kids wearing back in those days…?"

Silk bristled, her inner sense telling her that the man was lying and only pretending not to remember. But she knew better than to challenge such a one directly and so said carefully, "It is a mirror that grants its possessor the ability to travel through time."

"Sounds valuable," Happosai said, "Wish I could help you out there…"

"Please," Silk kept her voice remarkably level, in spite of bristling from the sheer arrogance of the man, only to hit upon a sudden burst of inspiration, "She says it belongs to a long lost love…a man who came to the village long time ago and wooed the heart of its greatest warrior. She says the gift pained her dearly but that she needs it back to avoid a crisis of unimaginable proportions from befalling our village."

"Oh, how cruel is fate," Happosai dabbed his eyes with a sleeve, "A long lost love you say?"

"Yes," Silk replied, grateful that Comb was not there or her friend would spoil the effect by gagging at her performance, "The greatest love of her life, a man whose kindness touched her soul and made her long for him long after he left our village. It is said he was on a training mission, much like this, and was on a quest to become the greatest Martial Artist that the world has ever known."

"Say no more, your story has touched me deeoly," Happosai was actually weeping genuine tears, much to Silk's surprise and Soun's amazement, "Oh, Cologne…how could I have left you? The fates are so cruel, and the destiny of a Martial Artist is such a lonely one."

"Then you'll help?" Silk was surprised to find it so easy.

"I'll think about it," Happosai beamed, pulling something out of his gi and blowing into it like it was a handkerchief.

Silk blinked, "Wait…isn't that…?" she glanced down, then felt herself up beneath her silk tunicand was dismayed upon learning, "It's gone! But how…you took it!" she snarled and lunged for the little man, who easily evaded her attempt to grab him.

"Don't worry about it, Cutie," Happosai said as he hopped once more out of her reach, "This is the modern age where kids like you are supposed to reject the modern entrapments and restrictions of bras and panties. Of course in America they're such barbarians that they burn the blessed things instead of donating them to the charity of kindly old men who are in need of warmth and comfort.

Silk, sprawled out as she was over the log, bristled with a rage that was only compounded when the man hopped onto her upturned bottom and started to feel her up as though checking for the consistency of a melon.

"How sweet!" Happosai said, "Soun, if you had any sense at all you'd marry this girl and make her your wife. Of course, in order to do that you'd need to grow a spine and formally challenge her for the right to be married."

"Master," Soun said, "Please…"

"Get off of me!" Silk cried, pushing off the log and vaulting to her feet, only to see that the little man once more had moved beyond the reach of retribution.

"And that reminds me, Soun, my boy," Happosai said, "Isn't it time for you to pack up your things and break camp? We need to get you back into town by later this afternoon. After all, I promised your father I'd have you at the Temple of the Sun at precisely mid-day, and I intend to follow through since he graciously offered me a sack-load of fresh panties, and I don't intend to miss that."

"The Temple of the Sun?" Soun was dismayed, "You mean…the Omiai is today?"

"So get a move on, you lazy, good for nothing crybaby," Happosai said crossly, then to Silk he said, "I'm so sorry, but our business will have to be delayed until this other bit of business is out of the way."

"Omiai?" Silk asked, glancing at Soun, "What does this word mean?"

"It's a formal gathering where two families confront each other and offer up their children to a formal engagement," Soun replied, "My father insists that I meet with a girl who is the daughter of an old friend of his from their military days. I cannot bow out of this and I dare not be delayed or else the family scandal…"

"Don't start bawling now," Happosai frowned, "I swear, your sister, Mariko, had way more control over her emotions than you do."

"Engagement," Silk blinked, "You are…meeting a girl…in order to get married to her?"

"That is my father's idea," Soun said, "But not all Omiai turn out well, and sometimes the engagement is called off before it gets to an actual ceremony. Depending on what happens the honor of both families can be gravely affected by the outcome."

Silk felt a breeze stir through her hair and something like a sense of prescience stirred the hackles at the base of her neck. The feeling ran up and down her spine and made her feel suddenly apprehensive, as though there was something stirring in the winds.

And she suddenly knew that she had to attend this peculiar gathering of stranger families, if only to affirm her suspicions or to put them to rest…at least for her own satisfaction.

Just then the old man turned around and said, "Well now, what do we have here? Genma, my boy, you've outdone yourself! You found an even greater Cutie than your friend Soun!"

Happosai launched himself at Comb, who just only just stepped into view. Silk tensed up, fearing the worst, and started to cry out a warning to her friend…

Only to see Comb raise a hand that caught the old man in the face, and then she slammed him into the ground and stepped on his back with her foot, holding him immobile.

Genma took a half-step back and looked down in dismay while Comb said, "Frogs is very big here in Japan. No see toad this big back in China."

Silk made a non-plussed expression and thought of the warning she had just been about to give, realizing belatedly it had been to the wrong party.

"Did you see that?" Soun asked, "She caught the Master."

"I wouldn't have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes," Genma said in amazement.

"Eh?" Comb looked puzzled, "Master? AIIYAA!" she cried as suddenly the flap of her tunic was lifted up to expose the space between her legs.

"How sweet!" Happosai said as he moved twice as fast as before, suddenly grappling Bomb from behind and feeling up her chest, "Get a load of this pair of knockers! You don't find many this big in that part of Asia!"

"Get off of me!" Comb cried, and suddenly she delivered a bruising upward punch that sent the little man soaring towards the heavens.

"Wow…" Genma said, staring in amazement at the girl who stood before him with her arm upraised, "What a punch!"

"Your friend there certainly has a lot of energy," Soun said blandly.

"Don't I know it," Silk replied, almost feeling sympathy for the little parasite, and silently wishing she had twice Comb's strength for dispatching righteous justice.

"Aiyaa!" Comb cried suddenly, then started patting herself down in disbelief, "Is gone!"

"What's gone?" Genma asked, only to find himself being man-handled as he was the nearest available male for Comb to snag onto.

"Comb lose Halter-top, you stupid man!" she said as she shook him back and forth like a rag doll, "Little Toad Man steal from Comb! Comb very angry! Want Toad Man give halter-top back!"

"I'm sorry, don't hurt me!" Genma pleaded while feeling his teeth rattle in his mouth and his spine come close to snapping.

"Be careful there, Comb," Silk called out in Mandarin, "you don't want to break your new Husband before you've had time to try him out!"

"Aiyaa?" Comb seemed to suddenly become aware of herself, then hastily let Genma go and turned around, looking flustered and embarrassed.

Genma landed on his bottom while Soun looked skyward and then heaved a sigh.

"We might as well break camp and pack everything in, Genma," he sighed, "The Master will be back soon enough and then he'll be wanting us to carry him back into town."

"But…Soun-kun?" Genma looked surprised.

"The Omiai is today," Soun reminded, "Or have you already forgotten?"

"Omiai?" Genma blinked, and then he cried out, "OH NO! That means my Omiai is later in the day! Pop will kill me if I'm late and use my hide as a wall scroll!"

"Omiai?" Comb asked.

"Yes," Silk called out, "It seems your Husband was going to meet a woman that his family wants him to marry. Which reminds me, are you into threesomes?"

Comb bristled, "HE IS NOT MY HUSBAND! Wait…a woman you say?"

"Yes, and something tells me we had better be present when these gentlemen are presented to their brides to be," Silk replied, "Or else something very bad is likely to happen."

"Yes, to the women unfortunate enough to let themselves be defeated by these two," Comb frowned, "Are you saying we should give them fair warning?"

"What I'm saying is that my instincts tell me that something is going to happen that will require the presence of a couple of Amazons," Silk replied, "And you know my instincts are never wrong about such things."

"Except for that one time when you told my sister that eating Wild Palm Fruit would insure success in the marriage tournaments," Comb pointed out, "And she defeated every one of the would-be suitors who tried to defeat her and become her husband."

"And you don't call that successful?" Silk replied, "Trust me on this, attendance for us is strictly mandatory."

"But what about our quest?" Comb asked, "Grandmother is expecting results."

"We found the old man already," Silk replied, "Now all; that's needed is for us to find a way of getting him to turn over to us the Nanban Mirror. I almost had him convinced to cooperate, but the little twerp went and stole my bra from me!"

"You too?" Comb said, only to belatedly become aware of the two men looking at them with uncomprehending expressions, so she reverted back to Japanese and said, "Where is store sell bra and panties?"

"Uh…you're asking me?" Genma asked, "Ah…well…"

"You ought to be able to find something to wear back in town at a shop or boutique," Soun suggested, "We can point one out to you since our Master is the one who has inconvenienced you ladies."

"Hmm," Comb frowned, "This is one Sweet-talker. Maybe you should consider him Husband material."

Silk felt her cheeks flush, "Oh my…that does sound like a rather interesting proposal."

Comb turned to Genma and said, "We come with you. Show village."

"Eh…right," Genma stood up, "First we have to break camp then Soun and I will show you ladies where to go to replace the things our Master has taken from you."

"Include dignity?" Comb asked skeptically, but she seemed inclined for now to go along with Silk's proposal, seeing no excuse ready enough at hand to exempt them from accompanying these men on to their meeting place,.

A place where they would encounter women who would soon be just as significant in their lives as the ones with whom they now were companioned…

"This way, Son," Mizuno Hiroshi said to his son as Soun trudged along the path some hours later, Genma following behind him with Hipposai and the two Amazons at a respectful distance.

"Move your feet, Boy urged Saotome Tenma to his son as the latter trudged along reluctantly like a prisoner being marched to the gallows, "I won't have you disgracing our family at the auspicious time when you are about to meet your future wife."

"But I don't want to get married, Dad," Genma protested, "This whole business is just stupid…"

"Foolish Boy!" his father snapped, sounding like the crack of doom when set against the peaceful backdrop of their surroundings, "How do you think it was that I met your mother and had you? Show respect for our traditions for once and stop complaining about the way you wish things were. What are you, an American?"

"Well, why not?" Genma asked, "Your mother was an American."

"That has no relevance to the present situation and you well know it, Boy," his father snapped, "My mother learned to respect Japanese culture when she married my father, and she still lives by her adopted cultural ways, which means that she expects her grandson to act like a civilized man and not some uncooth barbarian."

"All right, don't have a cow, Old Man," Genma pleaded for restraint, "Sheesh…you'd think you were never my age or something…"

"That's right, Boy," his father said boastfully, "Martial Artists like me were never born, we were forged in the furnace of the Gods and sprang full form to life…"

"Would you two hold it down? I'm trying to think!" Happosai snapped.

"Yes, Master," Tenma and Hiroshi said together in chorus, as if from long habit and reflexive instinct.

Soun sympathized with his training partner and dearest friend (who only a couple of years ago in the past he could not stand to be around, training under their Master having the effect of forging them into friends out of the mutual need of survival). It was good of Genma to offer to come along to offer moral support as Soun faced the prospect of the end of his carefree days of bachelorhood. This was hardly the most auspicious time in their lives to be tying themselves down with attachments like women.

Especially if those women happened to find out about that Genma and Soun did during the course of their training, and exactly what the Master did to hone their skills as Martial Artists.

Further back along the line Comb leaned in close to Silk and said, "What we doing here? Is no close kinsman. No have right."

"Yes, but I have a sense that it would be a very good idea for us to stick close to these gentlemen for a time," Silk replied more cautiously, "Trust me for now, letting those men out of our sight would not be a good thing."

"Hmph," Comb replied, "Think maybe you want stick close to skinny boy, just fund excuse to offer challenge."

"I'm not here to entrap anyone into marrying me, Dear," Silk replied, "At least…not yet. But perhaps you can get lucky yourself with your new Husband…"

"He is not my husband!" Comb flared, so angry that she lapsed back to Chinese instead of the Japanese that they were trying to practice.

"Whatever you say, Comb-chan," Silk smiled, "But at least admit that you are curious to see what Japanese mating rituals are all about."

Comb looked puzzled, "Is like challenge match on log? Face groom down, get knocked down, offer Kiss of Life?"

"No, not hardly," Silk replied, "At least…not as I understand these matters called Omiai."

"No fight?" Comb looked puzzled, "Then how know is good match?"

"Watch and learn how things get done among the foreigners, Dear,"

"Hmph," Comb sniffed primly, only to turn and frown, glancing off in no set direction.

"What is it?" Silk asked, catching the tell tale signs of warrior alertness.

"Is no alone," Comb replied, "Comb feel…eyes on back of scalp."

"Yes, I've noticed something very similar myself off and on for the past few hours," Silk replied, "Be on your guard, just in case what I sensed earlier might prove to be the case."

Atsuko frowned as she kept to the concealment of some nearby trees, wondering aloud, "Where are they going? Do they know I'm here? I won't let them elude me," she glanced down to her wrist detector that was steadily pointing in the direction of Saotome Genma.

Of course when she saw the building structure she halted and said, "Oh crap! Holy ground, it's a human temple! Now what am I going to do?"

In her head she heard a voice say, "Calm down! You're at least partially human, so it ought to give you some protection against their holy wards."

Atsuko blinked, "Momma? Are you here?"

"I'm speaking to you through the wrist communicator, Dear," her Demon mother said with barely restrained patience, "Why do you think I gave it to you in the first place? I knew without it you'd surely botch your mission."

"Oh," Atsuko replied, "Well…I don't know, Mom. I didn't do too great on my test for banishing Ward Spells. And this illusion I've been working on…I don't think it would stand up for long if I get spell zapped by some guy throwing out Ofudos."

"Not to worry, Mommy's on the job," Cybele replied, "I planned ahead for contingencies like this. Trust me when I say that Omiai is going to go down in flames, at which point your chance will come to do your Momma proud."

"Oh?" Atsuko blinked, "So…what's going to happen?"

"I'm calling in a few favors from some old friends of mine who haven't had a job in quite a while," Cybele replied, "But when you see them you'll know that they're up to the job of stirring up trouble."

"Oh," Atsuko said, "Okay. So when that happens…do I grab this guy and make off with him?"

"I'll leave that to your discretion, Darling," Cybele chuckled ominously, then added, "Just so long as you screw his brains out and get pregnant with his child. I don't care squat beyond that, just make sure you have that boy's baby."

"Got it," Atsuko replied, pretending to understand what all of that meant as she did not want to get another lecture about how "Proper Demons" were supposed to comport themselves around human males.

Even if she only had the vaguest idea of what that meant beyond the superficial basics…

Soun was nervous as he sat down opposite the party where a woman dressed all in white was confronting him, her face concealed from view by both a veil and the headpiece to which it was attached. Off to the sides the fathers and mothers were engaging in formal pleasantries, as if everything had not already been worked out in advance and the meeting itself a mere formality for the sake of their offspring.

So far he could tell nothing about his proposed "bride to be," not even the outline contours of her body. At least she did not appear to be overweight, which was something of a relief to his way of thinking. He felt stiff and way too formal for his liking as he regarded her with questions in his eyes and bewilderment written large on his expression.

But then he saw the woman raise her gaze ever-so-slightly and peer at him from just beneath the rim of her head piece. Brown eyes regarded him cautiously with a narrowness in their focus that made them look unusually predatory. It was not the shy look that he would have expected but more like the look that a hungry cat might pay to a prospective dinner.

In her mind Kimiko was sizing the fellow up before her and not immediately liking much of what she saw. His face was much too narrow and elongated. His hair was long, not short, and he seemed way too cautious and uncertain about himself as though he expected to be scolded at any minute.

A timid mouse was her first impression, and she silently cursed her father for giving her yet another pathetic weakling to have to size up and reject as this man seemed more the wimp than a true martial arts master. This was not going to end well, and if her father had any sense at all he would break the whole thing off and give her what she wanted, which was her freedom to pursue her true ambition to be a pilot.

She was only here to please her father, and fulfill a deal she had made with him in order to get his approval for her advancing in her career. Just a few more minutes and she could return to her friends in the 801 Airbats unit and resume her efforts at obtaining her license as a fully trained jet pilot. And no skinny guy thinking to land himself an easy bride was going to stand in the way of that ambition!

Off farther still two others were confronting each other but from a greater distance than the couple in whole honor this Omiai was being held. Genma was wearing a finer martial arts gi than the one in which he normally trained while staring at a distance at a woman in a kimono who seemed very lady like and well composed. He had not immediate impression of her, but unlike Soun he could see her face plainly and did not find her in the least bit objectionable.

Not that this did anything to quiet the butterflies in his stomach that were fluttering amok.

Comb and Silk sat back by the wall as mere "fiends of the family" and watched these affairs take place as though it were a mural or a painting. It certainly moved at such a slow pace that Comb actually caught herself yawning. Silk nudged her with a knee, at which pint Comb said, "Is sorry…but why so quiet? Whey then start with fighting?"

"They are not supposed to be fighting," Silk replied, "This is more like a diplomatic negotiation for an alliance of two families."

"No fighting?" Comb sniffed, "How boring."

"I quite agree," said Happosai, startling both young ladies, "True Martial Arts shouldn't have their partners be chosen for them. They should fight and conquer their warrior brides after proving their worthiness in the eyes of their peers."

"You talk like Amazon," Comb frowned, "How you know our people?"

"My dear," Happosai said cagily, "You have no idea of the places I've been to or the things that I have seen in my career. Why, I once even courted the finest beauty from among you Amazons and came this close to making her my wife. Except that circumstances forced me to go on the road to travel and perfect my arts as a true Master must do, free from worldly attachments."

"I see," Silk said dubiously, "So that's what you call stealing women's underwear from every community that you visit."

"Including Amazon Comb would bet," the purple haired beauty derisively sniffed.

All at once she found Happosai planted in the space of her own cleavage, saying, "Any why shouldn't I since you've got some of the finest crop of ladies in all of China? And this ripened pair reminds me so much of my long-lost love, Cologne…!"

"Cologne?" Silk blinked in dismay.

"GET OFF OF COMB!" the Amazon exploded, planting a fist under the chin of the old man and sending him soaring.

"Master, Please," Hiroshi spoke up.

"At least wait until after things are concluded here at the Omiai," Tenma urged as Happosai came back to the ground and easily landed on his feet, "Then you can embarrass us by attacking our lady guests from China."

"Never mind all of that," Kimiko spoke up, lifting her head and pulling off her vale, "We can end this business right here and now with no further waste of time for either of us. Sorry, young man, but it's not going to happen."

"Oh?" Soun said in surprise and relief, only to blink his eyes and say, "Silk?"

"Huh?" Kimiko replied, "What…"

"Is no possible!" Comb sat up more erectly, tunring and looking at her companion, then at the woman in the white kimono, then back again.

"Oh my," Silk herself remarked as she got a good solid look at the face of the other woman.

"Well, I'll be," said Genma with widening eyes.

"Huh?" Kimiko turned to regard the Chinese girl who was standing up abruptly. Then it was her turn to blink as she gasped, "Hey! What are you doing with my face?""

"That is the question which I was going to ask," Silk said as she approached the other young woman, "Fascinating. We almost could be twins separated at birth."

"Eh…who is this girl?" Hiroshi asked, turning to his old friend and cousin, "Tenma?"

"Don't look at me," Tenma replied, "I thought she was with your branch of the family line."

"Incredible," Soun remarked as he turned from one woman to the other and back again, "If I did not witness this with my own eyes…"

"Ah…" Kimiko turned to the young man and frowned, "And what exactly is your relationship to her again?"

Just them something loud caused all conversation to come to a screeching halt, and then heads turned to see a massive shape begin to take shape from the congealing vapors of the air and a loooming shadow that rose up from the ground.

And then all at once a hugely horrific creature manifested, larger than a building and roaring its malevolent glee as it spotted the puny humans who were gathered about beneath the auspiices of a Holy Torah.

"Demon," Silk averred, "And I big one."

"No fooling," Genma stood up, "But…where did it come from?"

Soun stood up and surprised both Silk and Kimiko by positioning himself between them and the looming creature.

"Better stay back and let me handle this, Girls," he softly averred, "This is the duty of a trained martial artist."

"Huh?" Kimiko blinked, "Are you for real?"

"Soun-chan," Silk murmured, earning a cross look from Kimiko in the process.

"All right," Comb grinned as she drew her sword and held it at the ready. "NOW fight start?"

"It would appear that way," Happosai frowned, "Only…what is a Mountain Demon doing this far down into the valley? And this one is a slumbering ancient."

"Master," Hiroshi said as he looked at the older man.

"Don't tell us you know this one by name?" Tenma sounded faintly appalled.

The wizened old man smiled, "Looks like an old drinking buddy of mine. Maybe he got out of bed on the wrong side. He used to get these terrible hangovers…"

"Is all Comb need to know," the Amazon smiled, only to see a woman holding a sword standing beside her, the one who was wearing the kimono, "Who you?"

"Hello there," she smiled at Comb politely, "My name is Masaki Nodoka. You look like you were about to defend our gathering, so I thought maybe I should help you."

"Nodoka…?" Genma grew pale, but whether from fear of the impending battle or shock at meeting the woman he was about to become engaged to was not immediately apparent as it seemed his escape to the exits were being blocked off by most of the other retreating family guests.

Another young girl stepped forward, flashing a fan in her hand and smiling, "Well, aren't you the dashing young hero? But if anyone is to fight at the side of my beloved friend, Kimiko, then it is going to be me," and she chuckled with a disturbing laughter that even caused the demon to pause and look at her askance.

Beyond the threshold of the Temple grounds Atsuko looked on and said, "That's how you're disrupting this engagement party, Momma?"

"It's a little thing that Mortals call Overkill, Dear," Cybele replied through the communicator, "It tends to be undervalued, even though it is ideal for just these types of situations."

"So what do I do?" Atsuko asked, "That guy looks mean. I think I used to date someone like that on the track team."

"Never mind all of that," her mother snapped, "This is your chance! Go in there and catch yourself a man!"

"Oh…right, sorry about that," Atsuko said, hoping the time that she had taken studying her reflection in a pond had given her enough practice with her illusions to make a convincing enough human as she rushed up the stairs and into the center of the action.

"Things are in motion now at last," Cybele remarked as she stared into her mirror, many leagues distance, "Now all I have to do is sit back and watch the fun. I wonder how many of those Cows gill get eaten before At-chan can come to their rescue? Oh well…sure beats Summer Reruns…"

Continued.

Comments, Criticisms, Complaints, One Stop Marital Statistics: shadowmane

The Battle of the Omiai is underway, but who shall be the victor in the War of Love and Engagement that is about to be underway? Find out next time on, "Running with the Devil," or, "The Highway to Heck and Back."

Be there!

X


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